The day before we went to war
by ElesaryAyres
Summary: Before that Saturday, before that following Monday, before it all fell apart, it fell together.


Claire

Thursday, January 1st

1:26 am

 _His lips are warm and commanding and taste of cigarettes and spices. I moan and he steals it, sinking deeper into my mouth, my fingers bunch his hair and his big hands slid around my waist and cup the back of my head. He bites my lip gently, and I feel like the earth is spinning below my feet._

My racing heart woke me, and I sat up with a gasp, sweating and breathing hard. _What the hell was that?_

I had never even _spoken_ to John Bender, I _hated_ him. Maybe I should call a doctor or a psychiatrist, because there was clearly something wrong. I had never- _wouldn't ever_ \- even speak to him. Everyone knew that he was a burnout, and lazy, and dirty and mean. And honestly, he scared me to death. But I still couldn't forget his lips. _What had come over me tonight?_ What if someone had seen? A cold shiver raced down my spine, _someone probably had._

I reached for the glass of water on my bedside table, sighing when I found it empty. I stood up and walked to my door, listening closely for the sounds of my parents fighting, or worse, screwing. _If they weren't doing one, they were most certainly doing the other_.

Hearing nothing, I crept downstairs to the kitchen; the only sounds in the moonlit house my feet on the hard wood and the swish of my nightgown around my knees.

I sipped my water slowly and wandered the house a little, wondering about how different everything looked in the darkness. I yawned, and headed back to bed.

But I couldn't sleep, memories from earlier kept running through my head, keeping me from drifting off.

 _The night had started normally. We had arrived late, as usual, to one of the regular party houses. Patsy and Josie were, of course, already drunk, with Brad and Tom taking full advantage. I clung to Lucy's arm as we entered, the champagne from her dads limo already making my head spin happily. Kurtis grabbed my hand and I giggled as he pulled me toward him, mumbling about a keg and beer._

 _I wrinkled my nose, I hated beer, but I liked Kurtis so I let him guide him toward the keg._

 _I stumbled a bit when we wove through the crowd enough for the metal canister to come into view. The people around it made me blink in surprise._ What the hell was **he** doing here? _John Bender and his no-good stoner friends did_ not _go to parties with my friends._

 _His eyes suddenly caught mine. They were deep-set and dark, and caused me to stumble and break the contact._

 _"Slow down, Kurtis!" I snapped, despite that my stumble had less to do with his persistence in reaching the beer and more to do with those eyes._

 _A wave of people passed between us, and when we emerged by the keg he was gone._ Good riddance _, I sniffed and accepted the warm plastic cup Kurtis shoved into my hand._

 _I took a sip and wrinkled my nose. I hated beer, especially this cheap warm kind, and I never drank it. But tonight… for some reason tonight I felt like I needed it. So I gritted my teeth and forced it down as quickly as I could to the cheers of my friends and date._

 _I put the cheap cup down and, unable to help myself, I found myself glancing back around, but he was gone._

 _My friends grabbed my hands and pulled me toward the center of the throng of dancing teenagers, I felt warm inside, giddy, the alcohol taking effect. I grinned and threw myself into the movements._

 _Time turned liquid, there were smiles and drinks and friends and countless people smooshed their faces next to mine and clicked their cameras, photos flying out to hit the floor and vanishing under stomping feet._

 _And then there was a countdown and strong hands gripped my waist. Weed and mint and tobacco filled my nose and suddenly there were cheers and warm, chapped lips meant mine and I responded because nothing had ever felt so good and…_

My eyes opened again to the sun streaming through my window. My fingers flew to my tingling lips, my mouth still tasting like mint and pot and tobacco.


End file.
